Unsung Cocktail Heroes -- Bitters, Vermouth, and Liqueurs
08/20/2017
Reading about unsung cocktail heroes is good, but why read when you can listen? Eric Kozlik, the CEO of Modern Bar Cart, interviewed me for his podcast. It was a great experience. Here's our conversation about bitters, vermouth, and liqueurs (it's episode #8).
Eric has interviewed a lot of really interesting people about some great cocktail subjects, so I encourage you to listen to the other episodes. I've learned a lot by listening to them. You probably will, too. The podcast is a wonderful example of connecting over cocktails. Ms. Wulf Cocktail Den and I met Eric at the Tales of the Cocktail conference in New Orleans, and we reconnected at an event in Washington, D.C. earlier this year.
Our podcast episode (you can listen below) covers a lot of topics such as how James Bond disrupted the Martini, and what I would order if I could drink with my late grandfathers. We also discussed general cocktail categories such as amari (bitter liqueurs), and specific cocktails like the Manhattan, the Ward 8, and the Derby.
If you listen to the episode, keep this in mind -- I wasn't kidding. I have walked alone through the yard of a maximum security federal prison. No, I was not incarcerated. Want to the hear the story? Buy me a good cocktail.
I love that you chose the Manhattan.
My "Grammy Marilyn" was a Manhattan woman. I vividly remember her ordering one at her father's wake. The young, inexperienced bartender had never heard of it. He couldn't even make me a Jack and Coke! As you discussed a Manhattan can have many permutations, but a jack and coke? The ingredients are the name! My mother had been a bartender for 15+ years, went behind the bar to make all of our drinks.
Drinks or stories of drinks can take us back to a time, place, and person or bring a time, place or person to us.
Posted by: CJ Johnson | 08/23/2017 at 09:04 AM
What a great and hilarious story! I agree -- it's not necessarily the drink itself that's important, but the experiences and people you associate with it.
Posted by: Wulf Cocktail Den | 08/23/2017 at 12:48 PM